U.S.A. –(AmmoLand.com)- Since President Trump won the 2016 election, one idea has been gaining steam in some quarters – the National Popular Vote movement. Those pushing it note that two of the last five presidential elections have seen the person with the higher popular vote total lose the election. In 2000, Al Gore lost to George W. Bush. In 2016, Trump beat Hillary Clinton.
President Trump has been a godsend for Second Amendment supporters, primarily for his Supreme Court appointments. Certainly, if she had been elected Hillary Rodham Clinton would be pushing to enact the wish lists of Charles Schumer, Dianne Feinstein, Michael Bloomberg, and other anti-gun zealots. Many are upset, thinking that democracy has been thwarted.
Now, let’s be honest, the United States is not a democracy. It’s a republic. Furthermore, the Founders were rightfully wary of a pure democracy. We’ve seen how “pure” democracies like Australia and the United Kingdom rammed through massive gun bans after mass shootings. To accept the National Popular Vote would be to push us closer to that brink.
The fact is, the presidential election is never about who wins the popular vote. It’s winning a majority of the Electoral College that matters. Back when the Constitution was drafted in 1787, the Electoral College was one of two institutions intended to make sure that smaller states were not drowned out by bigger ones (the other was the United States Senate, which gave equal representation to all states).
That wisdom has been borne out. In 2000 and 2016, the margin of victory in California alone was enough to swing the national popular vote in favor of the Electoral College loser. In 2000, Al Gore won California by about 1.3 million votes – and had a popular vote plurality of about 500,000. In 2016, Hillary won California by 4.3 million votes – with a popular vote plurality of roughly 2.9 million.
If the National Popular Vote were to become the rule of the land, then the state that routinely sent anti-gun zealots like Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, and Kamala Harris to the Senate would effectively control the White House.
What makes it even more dangerous is the method being used to pursue the National Popular Vote. More accurately, it is called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.
The Electoral College is enshrined in Article II of the Constitution. But some proponents of a national popular vote have seized on a loophole. They note that according to that article, “Each state shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress.”
So, what they have done is to get various state legislatures to establish a compact between states. According to Ballotpedia, 11 states and the District of Columbia that represent 161 electoral votes, have passed legislation declaring that those electoral votes will go to the winner of the national popular vote when enough states to total 270 electoral votes have passed similar instructions. One of those states, as you might imagine, is California.
The same California that alone made the popular vote swing in favor of Al Gore and Hillary Clinton. The same California with a claim to having the most onerous anti-Second Amendment laws in the country.
The fact is, this compact is stoppable, but doing so will take a lot of vigilance at the state and local levels. The good news is the state legislative races can be affected the most by grass-roots efforts. The threat of the National Popular Vote is a very real one and it is up to you to understand this threat and what it means to do to the value of your vote.
About Harold Hutchison
Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.
@ Steven A. Jones What are you thinking? Taking away the Electoral College would cement the elections for the city dwellers (AKA apartment and taxi cab users). The Electoral College gives everyone a chance to have their vote count. I have to surmise that you are a liberal city rat and you could care less about the rest of the country. Too bad for you, the way you want things to be perfect would destroy this country. Go someplace else and play.
Time to go back and rescind the Seventeenth Amendment!
You must be liberal an have no clue on why the 17th amendment was put in there.Being the liberal you are you must be for fairness.You must be from one of the big cities.You take away the 17th an only big cities will do the voting an you have maybe 4or 5 that will decide everything.The electoral college puts a halt on that so all states has a say big or small.You would do goo to go back an take some history classes
AKA – Prevents mob rule….
AHHHH the Liberal that ignors facts….no suprise. I hear they have some cheap property in Venezuela you should GTFO.
I don’t believe Hitlery won the popular vote of American citizens, maybe the illegal vote, the dead people vote & the corruption in counting but not the American vote!
You should change your name to American Fool!
I don’t believe it either! WAYYYY too many dead folks, voting in multiple jurisdictions, illegal aliens (that California accepts with open arms!) Let the cities have their own governments. Leave the rest of us alone! The popular vote is a sea of RED with a very few islands of blue. For states like Illinois that is 90% red, ALWAYS vote that state blue? Because of the population/murder center of Chicago and that’s it! Illinois should be an absolute RED state! So should Missouri, Indiana, Texas, Nevada, Idaho, Minnesota Wyoming, Montana, both Dakotas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maine, Louisana, Florida, West Virginia, Virginia,… Read more »
Simple Fix…if you don’t have a job…or lets say LEGITIMATE source of income…YOU DON’T VOTE ! ( Housewives and stay at home Mom’s are attached to their Spouse..and can Vote.) Or, better yet, anyone receiving Welfare as their main source of income…NO VOTE ! Every human with an IQ above 69 knows a “certain” group has no business voting. If your existence on Earth is to only spit Babies out your ass for a bigger welfare check…then you have no right to VOTE. Past time for the Tax Payers to have THE SAY. ..and don’t get me started on DRUG… Read more »
Author: Ethan
Comment:
So you believe that voter fraud is an issue? Even though multiple investigations, independent studies and reports have found no credible evidence of voter fraud in the United States. Our country suffers from voter apathy on a massive scale, that is a real problem, not voter fraud.
You been ‘smokin’ too many lollipops Ethan. It’s been proven time and again. A paper trail is best.
You’re not too up on news are you? Several studies show thousands of documented voter fraud, mostly non-resident voter registration and voting, with dead people voting for good measure. California already up over 150,000.
Democrats have an ability the Republicans do not, the ability to vote as a block on issues. Until the Republicans develop the will to vote as a block, liberals will dominate the government. The safeguards built into our political system have limited mob rule,until the “new society “ under the Johnson administration. Democrats were able to buy entire voting blocks with the expansion of social welfare programs. Keep giving large groups welfare in exchange for their vote. People who have sold their vote for money, will sell anything for a price. How do we answer the question of selling a… Read more »
gun control = a**hole, and retired “justices” should go back to their first priority, making sure they don’t have to change their depends. legislate-whores have already passed enough lawyer-gun-control-paper to wipe every butt on this planet for the next 50 years, they have to look busy and “justify” their worthless a**es so as to continue their mostly-parasitic existence.
Tyrants never stop tyrannizing.
If you’re going to mention Shrillery losing a popular vote, be sure to mention how she lost the primary to Obama despite having more votes. And how the DNC she paid off stole the vote from Bernie. Let’s make sure everyone gets angry, because it’s funny to watch.
I’m not too worried about the vote at this point. If the jewish-lead Communists get their wish and somehow ram through their repeal of the 2nd we’ll just get to determine who has more bullets.
It is not necessary to eliminate the Electoral College in order to render it ineffective and useless. Rigging the vote through these state compacts will work as well or maybe even better than a direct attack trying to modify the Constitution. How is rigging the Electoral College vote different from rigging the popular vote anyway? If you subtracted out all of the dead people votes, the multiple votes, and the illegal alien votes Hillary’s popular vote count wouldn’t be an issue.
This commenter is correct. Particularly the last part about the number of illegitimate votes we know have weighed upon election outcomes the past three cycles. I don’t think any of us with an iota of awareness believe Obama would have won in 2012 IF the voting regulations and states’ rights to verify had not been abridged by his henchman AG Eric Holder’s interference on behalf of his boss. I could be wrong, because we only had Casper Milquetoast Mitt Romney to put up against Obama. – Which of course leads me to the upcoming interim elections, and the national election… Read more »
So you believe that voter fraud is an issue? Even though multiple investigations, independent studies and reports have found no credible evidence of voter fraud in the United States. Our country suffers from voter apathy on a massive scale, that is a real problem, not voter fraud.
@Ethan, “… no credible evidence of voter fraud …” Haaaaa haaa haaa haas! You must be a democrat national socialist because you lie so poorly.
Dear Democrat
Please give us specific investigations, “independent” studies (from leftist colleges?),and reports from what organizations (George Soros, Mike Bloomberg, Jeff bezos, other communists)?
Do you REALLY think there was a “fair and just” investigation in Chicago, New York OR California?
The DOJ or the FBI seem very partisan at this point. Not sure they could be trusted to an impartial finding.
@ Ethan based on your statement, please explain why the votes in several commifornia districts EXCEEDED the number of registered voters who lived in those districts. Take the wool off your eyes and see the real world as it is.
Where have you been at Ethan? There have been many cases of voter fraud in the last 2 years and a number of people facing charges on this. But I will agree with you on the voter apathy, when you have 6 million people in a state and only 250,000 vote there’s a problem.
Guess you’ve never been to blackboxvoting.org
CNN research, I suppose? bulls**t, voter fraud is rampant in blue-state, sanctuary a**hole cities. only way that taquiyya-bama got in.
The second amendment exists in every state except NJ. And as far as the NRA, they are a joke. They want NJ members but refused to back us up. We are the lost state.
The joke is NJ keeps voting them communist democrats back in.There could be a one nut Chinese communist run on the democrat ticket,he could require all democrats to suck his cock an they would all line up to perform the task instead of voting republican.So there is your problem
Im totally disgusted by the latest tactics of the left wingers. I hope come Nov every Libitard socialist candidate get spanked. They have earned it.
To get rid of the Electoral College would require an amendment to the constitution and that would require a 2/3rd majority of the states and their legislatures which would usually take 10 years. The founding fathers in wise ways made difficult on purpose to change the constitution so that cooler heads may prevail.
Sure, they will never get enough votes to change the text of the Constitution, but if we let them, they will get their operatives in the right places in government to circumvent it. We can already see it. For example, the FBI and DOJ is still in the middle of a coup attempt against a Constitutionally elected President using some magical authority that was never granted by the Constitution or an authority that was never given it by the American people.
No doubt once they gain control they will attempt to impeach anyone who disagrees with them.
Next they will attempt to change the Constitution to abolish the Electoral College and then the Second Amendment and then it will be a Civil War 2024.
There has never been a land of pure democracy in the history of the world. Even ancient Greece and the early US had restrictions on who could vote. This kind of “pure” democracy is just mob rule and even the ancient Greeks knew it was a poor form of government. All democracy in all forms requires an educated base of voters. By this standard individual voting power should be further diminished instead of expanded. Education is not the primer we call the school system, but the ability and willingness to actually understand any given topic before passing judgment. This education,… Read more »
A Representative Republic cannot survive if governed by mob rule.
TERM LIMITS
Term limits will remove the few GOOD GUYS that manage to get seated, along with taking out the trash. Not good. The root issue in our political system is comatose or ignorant voters. They refuse to spend the time/effort to inform themselves, trusting instead on media to “inform” them. When their pain level rises to the point of prompting action, there WILL be a revolution.. hopefully a silent one, throwing off the chains of the corrupt media which now direct politics and nearly every other aspect of our culture. Your cry for term limits is a symptom of the root… Read more »
@Tio, Term limits would also remove the many CORRUPT PARTY HACKS that manage to get seated time after time.
I wish that the basic voter could be changed, but even if it were possible, there are a huge number of voters to change. While there are, only, a tiny number of legislators to change.
Six feet of rope works just as well than the perpetual cycling of communist through the halls of government.
The Socialist Democratic which is taking over the Democratic Party is nothing more than updated version of the communist system. There printed material is an exact copy of the material that Lenin put out before his minions became their new lords or dictatorship that killed millions of their own people, which is something these new so call progressives don’t understand will happen to this country if they take control.
For all these left wing democrats,they should like the electoral process. They are always talking about equal this an that.That is why the electoral process was put in place,so every state has an equal say.
I totally agree with Larry. The low life pond scum Democrats would love to bring this country down. Along with the idiots in Hollywood and the far left on the East and West coasts are there co – conspirators. We as 2nd Ammendment supporters , as well as The Constitution of the United States must Stand Firm and Never Back Down. Our Nation . Our way of life is in jeopardy. We must not let them win.
Yes, people who want to preserve this republic can’t afford to sit on there duff’s any longer.
The Dems keep saying that Hillary won the popular vote. That’s like a team saying they got more first downs. The game would be payed differently if the most first downs wins, just as campaigns would be different if popular votes wins. Trump would have campaigned in California and other blue states to get the republican vote out. Likewise she may have campaigned differently. So who knows how the popular vote would go. This is just another ploy by liberals to gain power. Leave things as they are.
Michael, you’re comparing apples to oranges. Winner-take-all is good in sports, not so good in politics. The National Popular Vote would strengthen the nation. Several Republicans support the NPV.
Gun bans by popular vote would bring upon us a civil war. The problem will solve itself. Just look at how people reacted to the Bundy situation in Nevada. 800 people from around the country pointed guns at federal officers, ready to die, in defense of freedom.
Yes, let us be honest. The Republic ended in 1861, with the election of Lincoln. We do not have a Democracy either; at least not as long as an indifferent legislature and special interest groups run the show. I favor the system we have, and oppose this popular vote business. Another rock being turned upside down is the push to make D.C. a state. We are all aware as to the reasons our founders wanted the capitol to be independent of statehood. I find wisdom and understanding by reading Romans Ch. 1 in the Bible. It is in this chapter… Read more »
Bottom line is that conservatives need to get off of their collective asses and get out there and vote. Every election matters. Vote every time if you want to save our country from the looney lefties.
One of the reasons the electoral college was created was to protect slavery, it was also modified after the election of 1800 by the Democratic-Republican party so the current Electoral College is not the one the Founding Father’s created. Secondly Most of the Founding Father’s may have envisioned a Republic but that doesn’t mean the soldiers or the people did. People tend to forget that only landowner’s could vote at the beginning and the Founding Father’s while great men where not perfect one of the issues they neglected was to include the interests of the cities which have always been… Read more »
I cant wait until common sense prevails and we have more gun control.
Common sense solutions are answers created without any real knowledge of the topic. Such amazing common sense solutions of the past include blood letting, constricting corsets, and opioid addicted babies (and much later the opioid epidemic). “Common sense” gun control doesn’t get passed because when you look deeper than common sense you find serious issues and a lack of effectiveness. A more fitting term would be “ignorance-based gun control”.
Make up your mind! Which one?
Common sense and gun control = both hands holding the pistol/revolver properly, emphasis on the front sight, trained concentration on the trigger, and prreesss.
I’m curious to see if my comments will stay up on this site. It will be a true test of whether or not the moderators truly support the idea of freedom of speech.
Yes, this site does not restrict your comments, unlike leftist news sites, aka MSM. I got banned from posting on one site recently and I never received a reply after requesting a reason multiple times. There have been a number of leftists that posted anti-rights gibberish that was not banned. I haven’t read your posts, but your posts will not be banned, regardless of political affiliation, though you will see that the majority that post here are pro-Constitution and pro-rights – again, regardless of political affiliation.
I literally got brain cancer from reading this article.
The writer obviously did not do any sort of research when it came to the governments of both Australia and the United Kingdom and the laws that both nations passed concerning gun control. Neither one of them are “pure democracies”, Australia is a constitutional monarchy, with a federal parliamentary system and the United Kingdom is also a constitutional monarchy with a ruling parliamentary system. And if you follow the laws that were passed in both countries, they had the overwhelming support of the people, they were not “rammed through” by governments of Australia and the United Kingdom.
@Ethan Gould, and everything that you have written is pretty much irrelevant.
Ethan, regardless, those laws trampled the rights of firearm owners. We have the 2A, and in many states, they also have a RKBA in their constitutions, many similarly written to the 2A – that protects firearm owners even if the majority of the population does not agree with the RKBA. That is the difference between the USA and most other countries.
All laws regulating firearms, due to the 2A and state constitutions, are unconstitutional. Unfortunately we have corrupt governments that pass these laws and a SCOTUS that does not strike down these laws.
DEMORATS AND LIBERALS ARE THE RUINATION OF OUR GREAT COUNTRY FOR EVERY TRUE AMERICAN CITIZEN.
PLEASE VOTE REPUBLICAN VOTE REPUBLICAN VOTE REPUBLICAN VOTE REPUBLICAN VOTE REPUBLICAN VOTE REPUBLICAN VOTE REPUBLICAN VOTE REPUBLICAN VOTE REPUBLICAN VOTE REPUBLICAN
ALL REPUBLICAN!!
No one is trying to take your guns away, just keep them out of the hands of persons that are, say, mentally ill. (Though that was the first thing Trump rescinded right after the inauguration.) Everyone wants gun owners to be responsible and level-headed. We are ALL true American citizens; nobody wants the ruination of the country. Please stop the name-calling, yelling and rabid comments.
No one is trying to take my guns away? How silly, and naif, of you, Sir. Don’t you remember that illustrious old hag Die Fie who publically declared “if I had the votes, I would say Mr. and Mrs. America, TURN THEM ALL IN.” The Clinton She Unit has often gone on the record declaring our ownership of guns must end. So has her wretched daughter. The kinyun is well known to have opposed our right to arms. He made a few cautions pokes at the woodstove to see how hot it was, and decided it was not politically wise… Read more »
Bull Butter!
When you have not just gun-grabber activists, but Congresscritters and retired Supreme Court Justices loudly squalling for the repeal of the 2nd Amendment, all you have just proved is that you’re a lyin scumbag, bought and paid for shill for the gun grabbers.
Your Bovine Excrement Propaganda smells just like what it’s named for.
So if I’m a Democrat or a liberal I’m not a “true American citizen” ? That is quite the bold claim, if I’m not a true citizen what am I? And unless I hold your specific beliefs I shouldn’t be considered a citizen of this country? A country that prides itself on freedom of speech and of belief mind you.
I think you’ve got it bass ackwards…. Nobody called Democrats DEPLORABLE!
To be honest, *I*’ve called Demonrats ‘deplorable’ on occasion. Though only under extreme provocation . . .
@ethan, dont own guns if thats what suits you. Dont tell me not to. That makes you a tyrannt. Americans dont listen to tyrannts. If you want peace with me you do your life and I will do mine.
@Ethan, I think that the democrat party members have been acting contrary to dignity and propriety that is expected of adults in America. Liberals have revealed that their goal is to destroy the fundamental concepts upon which our nation, government, and Constitution are built and replace them with socialist ideals, a socialist society, and a socialist government .
Your mask is off. You are a socialist and “wannabe” revolutionary. I think that you and your friends should rebel … openly. Why pussy foot around? Bring your weapons. Or are you just a parlor revolutionary?
Unless you are a Conservative at a “progressive” university, wherein the “progressives” will riot, commit arson, attack police and innocent pedestrians, and trash public and private property. Then the school steps in and denies that person the venue to speak that was previously made available to him. Ironically, he was one of the “progressives” protected classes, except that he also espoused Conservative views – that can’t be tolerated, obviously.
How about voting for the person & their views as applied for the betterment of all America rather than a PARTY. Its following the PARTY just because they ARE the PARTY that is so detrimental to free thinking….Be an INFORMED citizen, not a rubber stamp just because
Read Common Sense before you say that!
Democrats and Republicans are ruining this country. Also at fault are those that think one party is “good” vs the other.
The founding fathers are turning in their graves. The two party system is the crux.
Amen. No longer able to “agree to disagree” and get on with the people’s business. They would rather have the power to make rules for “the little people” that have exceptions for themselves and K street. That is why I became an Independent. Neither party gets a dime of my money. I fought for this country for 30 years, and sometimes wonder: Why? Then I see a young person doing the right thing, or an elder who is delivering meals on wheels, and remember exactly why. Still the greatest nation on earth, still the most caring, hard working people. One… Read more »
Yeah, politics suck but people sitting on fence instead of picking a side and voting allows people like Obama, Clinton, McCain, etc. to obtain positions of power and influence via their connections and money. Bottom line: You need to support the party ideology that most closely espouses the ideals you believe in such as: less government, Constitutional rights of individuals, pro-life, etc. If you are still looking for the perfect political party/candidate…….good luck!
got that right frijoli! Not much difference except ‘how’ and hoe soon they destroy this Nation. 3rd world coming for us if we;re not more diligent.
Please do not automatically vote “Republican”. We need to stop looking at parties and look at each candidate’s individual beliefs. Vote for the right candidate, whether they’re Republican, Democrat, or third party. Sometimes people who don’t follow the party’s ideals somehow sneak through and win the nomination, and sometimes the Democratic nominee is somehow more Conservative than the Republican. If you just walk in and vote “Republican”, you are being very naiive. Make sure you know each candidate individually.
That’s one topic of disagreement I had with a Political Science professor. He said straight party and I said not always. Not now. How many free democracy thinking people could penetrate the Democrat Party and what could they do if they did. For now it is most important to keep the now Democrat Party out of power. There are other Parties to vote for and we do still have the right not to vote. It would be nice for those disliking Republican vote other then Democrat.
Young man, very good article! Short, sweet, to the point !
Continue your good work, be safe.
Patrick Leddy
We the people are in the middle of a political coup.The media and the liberal colleges are using brainwashed constituents to pull it off.If we don’t start standing togather against these people and these ideas we will lose our country and our freedoms.So scared for my grandchildren.
If the popular vote becomes law then only the most populous Yates will decide whose president,then they will bring people in give them the right to vote.We will be come a one party political system
This is exactly right! NPV would shift American politics to the left.
Great article, with a poignant message! The wisdom of our nation’s founding fathers has stood the test of time, and should be heeded.
I have been trying to explain to people in my state of Idaho who favor getting rid of the electoral college that majority rule would effectively overturn our republic in favor of a dictatorship of the 13 major cities in this country. Those 13 major cities were Gore won most of his votes.
What’s not mentioned is Hillary didn’t win the Popular Vote. Nor did Al Gore. They got more votes than their opponent, but neither got the required 50% majority. Both elections would have resulted in a run off election. That happens about 40% of the time and is the main reason we don’t use it.
Interesting side noe: no Clinton has ever won the Popular Vote.